In a bitter blow to unionists, a poll conducted by 'Scotland in Union' has spectacularly backfired, and proves that the overwhelming majority of Scots are open to the idea of taking part in a 2nd independence referendum within the next 8 years.

Only 35% of Scots said there should not be another independence referendum, despite the unionist parties in Scotland continuing to perpetuate the myth that Scotland does not want a 2nd referendum.

Once the 'don't knows' are removed - 60% of Scots want to see an independence referendum within the next 8 years - an extremely embarrassing statistic for the unionist campaign group who conducted the poll, hoping to prove that the opposite was true.

And EVEN MORE embarrassingly, of those who want another referendum - the largest portion of them said that the referendum should be held BEFORE the 29th of March 2019.

Even more interestingly within the results, only 40% of Labour voters said there should not be another referendum at all - meaning Richard Leonard's current position to deny the people of Scotland another referendum could cost Labour up to 60% of their votes in an election.

And even a quarter of Tory voters in Scotland are open to another referendum - so Ruth Davidson's position of refusing to hold another referendum could cost the Scottish Tories a quarter of their votes if they continue to campaign against allowing a democratic vote.

An even more interesting statistic within the Scotland in Union's polling data shows that 40% of people who voted no at the 2014 independence referendum are open to a 2nd referendum being held within the next 8 years.

Once the 'don't know's' are removed, 38% of Scots said Brexit makes them more likely to vote for independence, and only 23% said it would make them less likely to vote for independence from the UK.

The poll also shows a 3% swing towards yes once the UK leaves the EU, and an 8% swing to yes in the event of a hard Brexit. Only 44% of those polled said they would vote no in the event of a no deal Brexit.

Only 21% of Scots thought that Scotland would not be granted membership of the UK - a myth that was perpetuated heavily by the no campaign in 2014 - but in recent days, the Spanish government has admitted that they would not block Scotland's entry to the EU.

Once don't knows were removed, 35% of respondents said that EU membership was more important to them, while only 24% said being in the UK was more important than being a member of the EU - and 40% said both unions were of equal importance.

All in all, the 'Scotland in Union' poll is pretty harsh reading for the unionist parties in Scotland who have now proven with their own research that the vast majority of Scots want an independence referendum at some point within the next 8 years.